Blue Jays: How things look for the other Wild Card contenders

As hot as the Blue Jays have been lately, they haven’t made up as much ground you’d like to see, as other Wild Card contenders are playing well right now too.

It’s going to be a very exciting race for the playoffs, especially in the American League Wild Card picture. As of right now I would argue that it’s a four-team race, but admittedly it’s still possible that the Mariners could be a factor as well. I feel like the top four Wild Card contenders are starting to separate themselves from the pack, and that’s the Oakland A’s, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, and of course, the Blue Jays. It’s possible that any of those teams factor in their division crowns as well, but for today I wanted to focus on the Wild Card.

It’s a bit unfortunate that there is so much talent in the AL East or perhaps the Blue Jays would be in a better position than they are right now. As things stand the A’s hold the top WC spot with a 1.0 game lead over the Red Sox, who hold the second position. Right behind them are the Yankees at just two games out of a playoff spot, and the Blue Jays just 2.5.

Obviously the A’s and Red Sox are in the more enviable position as of today, but there are a lot more factors at play than a couple of wins. The Blue Jays will largely be in control of their own destiny when it comes to whether or not they’re included in the playoffs, but as we’ve seen over the last two weeks, they’ll need some help from the others as well.

With that in mind, what does the rest of the season look like for the other contenders?

Boston Red Sox

One of the reasons that the Blue Jays have made up some ground in the standings is because the Red Sox have been scuffling. They were swept by the Rays last week and then dropped three of four against the Blue Jays. They’ve back playing the Rays again now, and Wednesday night their offence finally woke up in a big way, winning the second game of that series by a score of 20-8 after dropping the opener.

For those that have been reading my stuff for a while, you might remember that I predicted the Red Sox would finish fourth in the division. I’ve been shaking my head all year about how well they’ve performed, and it’s been a bit of personal satisfaction for me seeing them come back to earth over the last few weeks. Still, I’ll admit that they’re a much better team than I thought they’d be, and they’re a real threat to keep the Blue Jays from the postseason.

Red Sox fans have been understandably frustrated lately, but the good news to lean on is that some reinforcements are on the way. Chris Sale will re-join the team after nearly two years on the sidelines while recovering from Tommy John surgery, and if he’s right he’s one of the best pitchers in the world. It remains to be seen what he’ll bring to the table as he makes his way back, but I’m sure the Sox are thrilled to know he’ll pitch again this weekend. They’ll also be able to add Kyle Schwarber to the active roster sooner than later, a player they acquired from the Chicago Cubs ahead of the trade deadline. Schwarber was injured when the trade went down, so he’s yet to play for Boston.

One of the biggest challenges for the Red Sox will be the strength of their schedule over the rest of the regular season. They’re done with the Blue Jays for 2021 unless they meet in the playoffs, but they still have seven games left with the Rays, six against the Yankees, and they’ll play other tough teams like the White Sox over their final 46 games. They may be in a playoff spot right now, but they’re going to have to play well to keep it.

New York Yankees

There was a time in July when it looked like the Yankees were completely imploding, but they managed to hang around long enough to keep themselves a hot streak away from being back in the picture.

That’s exactly where they are now, as they’ve won eight of their last eleven, and have been keeping pace with the Jays during their hot streak. That said, they’ve got a very tough schedule for the rest of the month, and they’re going through a lot of injury issues at the moment.

As for the schedule, I’m sure manager Aaron Boone is losing sleep thinking about the rest of this month. They start a three-game set against the White Sox tomorrow, they have three with the Red Sox, four against the A’s, and two with the surging Braves. They have a few other less intimidating opponents like the Twins and Angels, but it’s going to be a difficult month for them to keep up.

To make matters worse, their injury issues seem to get worse by the day. Not every situation is a long-term problem, but they’re missing some key pieces to their success including Gerrit Cole, Aroldis Chapman, Anthony Rizzo, Gleyber Torres, Gary Sanchez, Gio Urshela and several more, and that’s on top of others like Corey Kluber and Luis Severino. The front office was aggressive in acquiring Rizzo and Joey Gallo to give their lineup some left-handed punch, and in theory if the roster can get healthy they’re an extremely dangerous group.

If they can keep their heads above water for the rest of August, one of the keys to the Yankees season could be their head to head match-ups with the Blue Jays. The two clubs will play six key games against each other in September. As a Blue Jays fan, I’d love nothing more than to see them directly responsible for helping send the Yankees home early this season. We’ll see where things stand come September,

Blue Jays

Last but not least I thought I’d take a quick look at the same type of things we examined with the rest of the Wild Card contenders.

The Jays are hot right now, and have a chance to take three of four against the Angels with another win on Thursday night. That would keep their streak of series wins going after taking three of four against Boston and Cleveland, and sweeping the Royals to begin their first home stand in Canada in nearly two years.

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I’ve written about their schedule a few times lately, and for the most part it’s favourable for the rest of their 49 games. They have at least one game in hand against the rest of their Wild Card competition, and that could come in handy as they get closer to the end of the season. Ideally the Blue Jays will be able to take serious advantage of their lighter August schedule, just as they’ve done thus far, because things will get a little more difficult in September.

The good news is the Blue Jays will also be able to control their own destiny in a lot of ways. They have seven games left with the Yankees, six with the Rays, and three with Oakland. Those games will really matter when it comes to the Wild Card standings, but it also helps that they’ll still play the Orioles ten more times.

As for internal reinforcements, the biggest potential boost could come in the bullpen if they’re able to get Nate Pearson and/or Julian Merryweather into the mix. They’ll also look to get others like Tim Mayza, Joakim Soria, and Ross Stripling healthy down the stretch as well, but fortunately they have a lot more depth than they did a month ago.

There are a lot of variables at play when it comes to the Blue Jays’ chances of making the playoffs, but the more I look at what’s ahead for them and their competition, the more I like their chances.